Referral Link Question

1. 77

   N. Ramiusposted 14 years ago

   I spent some time searching and couldn't find the answer so...
   
   Does including a referral tracker destroy the value of the backlink?
   
   If so, is using a referral tracker for the interlinking between your hubs greater than the value the backlink will provide?

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   1. 70

      Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It doesn't destroy the value, but it does dilute it.
      
      
      
      We don't encourage using referral trackers in your own hubs.  The purpose of the affiliate program is to reward users who bring in new people from elsewhere on the web, and, as I said above, it does dilute the SEO benefit somewhat.

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      1. 78

         Bendo13posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         The only reason I'd put a referral tracker in my own hub is because not all of your traffic is going to come from Hubpages or your own links A LOT will come from Google or other search engines.
         
         So if they come to your hub from search engine results and you link them to another one of your hubs, it might actually be a good idea to include your referral link.
         
         Because then if they come from Google, click your link and check out your other hub and THEN sign up... you just got a referral from search engine traffic.  Otherwise you can't get referrals from search engine traffic and you'll find that most of your traffic will come from search engines.

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         1. 78

            Bendo13posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            ...forgot to mention that bringing new members from search engines to Hubpages deserves a reward too!

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2. 80

   thisisoliposted 14 years ago

   I thought the redirect on the referal link passed on the backlink value?

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   1. 57

      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It does.
      
      If it is diluted, it is insignificant compared to the advantages of having someone becoming a referral.
      
      I won't be changing any links.

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      1. 70

         Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I agree with darkside.  The slight dilution of the the backlink value (and it is slight) is worth it if you are getting good referrals.  And by good referrals, I mean, people who sign up and actually publish through your link.

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3. 64

   lakeerieartistsposted 14 years ago

   Thanks for that comment, Maddie.  I didn't realize that at first so now I am systematically changing the referral links back to regular links for most of my hubs.

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4. 64

   lakeerieartistsposted 14 years ago

   If that is the case, because I keep hearing it both ways, I will leave them alone, and just be more strategic going forward.

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5. 79

   Sally's Troveposted 14 years ago

   Let me see if I get this right...
   
   HP offers a way to track traffic by using referral trackers. I've created a number of these based on where I promote my work on HP. For example, if I leave a link at sxc.hu, then I can track that link by its specific HP tracker, which might be something like "from sxc".  I want to know where traffic and referrals are coming from.
   
   So, are you saying that by my taking advantage of this HP feature that I am somehow "diluting" a backlink value?
   
   And what if I am not getting referrals (but getting traffic) from the site I created a tacker for...just exactly how is this backlink diluted, meaning, how does it affect hubscores and monetization and all those other measures I don't have a clue about right now?

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   1. 57

      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It will have no effect on HubScore or monetization. It has been suggested that there could be a slight effect in terms of SEO.
      
      Paul Deeds said this in another thread:
      
      "Links with trackers in them actually redirect (301) to the URL without the tracker.  I believe search engines will still count links that redirect as a vote for the final page, but they probably discount the weight of vote somewhat."
      
      MyWebs in another thread said:
      
      "This I am not worried about because I'm 100% certain Google currently passes all the juice to the page the 301 points at."
      
      MyWebs came to this conclusion after he watched a few videos on the subject by Matt Cutts.
      
      This is what I have to say about HubPages tracking:
      
      HubPages has a unique system that rewards people for sending traffic (being able to send traffic to other Hubbers who have fantastic hubs AND get a small reward for doing so is a brilliant strategy) and the very same tracker will credit you if the visitor signs up to HubPages.
      
      Not every single sign up will be productive. In fact you're doing well if 1 in 10 publish a hub. And if 1 in 10 who do publish hubs go on to be active.
      
      But it's the gift that keeps on giving. A one off payment (a la Squidoo and Factoidz) does not compare with the HubPage referral system.
      
      Don't go silly with it though. When it comes to linking within your own hubs, or to other hubs from your own, go for it. The same applies to linking to hubs from your own websites and blogs or on your own profile on social networking sites like Facebook.
      
      Proceed with caution if you do so on other forums, some admins, mods and loyal forum participants regard tracking/affiliate links with suspicion.
      
      And avoid using trackers when using social bookmarking sites. Sites like Digg don't like multiple links but with different URLs to the same page. A lot are not keen on referral links. So to avoid your account being banned or hubpages.com being blacklisted, I'd not use tracking links on social bookmarking sites.

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6. 79

   Sally's Troveposted 14 years ago

   Thank you darkside for this thorough response.
   
   I am not in the SEO world, so some of your words soar over my head.
   
   However, I will check out the links you provided to Paul and Matt.
   
   Meanwhile, until I earn some certification in SEO savvy and can chisel the fine points of the discipline into something smoother than sharp shards, I'll keep using those trackers as I have been using them, to track traffic more than to track referrals. Since I'm not blazing trails on social network sites, there's no concern there about HP.

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      thisisoliposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Try Google Analytics, it is free and provides highly in depth statistical reporting!

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7. 68

   Ladybird33posted 14 years ago

   Bendo13, very good point and this is what I thought it was meant to be used for...thanks.

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